Cancel multiple non-activated credit cards?

[phxphun]

My Mother suddenly recieved three credit cards in the mail (Wallmart MC, TJMax, and The TOG Shop).  She doesn't recall requesting any of them and has not activated them. 

Given they've not yet been activated, if she just destroys them will they impact her credit score in any way.  Conversely, if she calls and cancels them, will they impact her score?

[K-in-Boston]

They would have already impacted her credit; no need to activate.  If she didn't apply for them, it's likely that she has been a victim of identity theft.

[Anonymous]

Are you talking about offers to apply for those cards? or actual cards? If they're actual cards, it's too late. They will show up on her credit even if she calls to cancel. She can however dispute them herself if it was fraud and someone used her info to apply for them. Then, they can get removed from her credit profile.

[Anonymous]

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@phxphunwrote:

My Mother suddenly recieved three credit cards in the mail (Wallmart MC, TJMax, and The TOG Shop).  She doesn't recall requesting any of them and has not activated them. 

Given they've not yet been activated, if she just destroys them will they impact her credit score in any way.  Conversely, if she calls and cancels them, will they impact her score?

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If she doesn't recall requesting them, I would seriously recommend finding out if her info is compromised and she's a victim of fraud or worse. You need to contact the credit agencies and have them put a security hold so they can't sign up for any more credit.

[Adkins]

Cards are not sent unless they are applied for. She may not remember applying for them, but she must have somehow. (Unless she's a victim of identity theft,.) Walmart is especially known for offering $25 off your purchase when you're approved. At this point I would pull her credit reports and see if they did a HP for all the cards. Secondly, she needs to make sure she didn't put her purchases on them, because in that case they'll need to be paid. Thirdly, she'll have already taken a score hit for the HPs, so if she wants to just close them, that's fine. The only thing she'll lose is utilization, depending on her credit limits that we're given. It might cost her a few points, depending on her overall credit profile. 

[Anonymous]

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@phxphunwrote:

My Mother suddenly recieved three credit cards in the mail (Wallmart MC, TJMax, and The TOG Shop).  She doesn't recall requesting any of them and has not activated them. 

Given they've not yet been activated, if she just destroys them will they impact her credit score in any way.  Conversely, if she calls and cancels them, will they impact her score?

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Thinking about this a little more, I would recommend that she call the police ASAP and file a report. This would create a record of this happening and there would be an investigation. They can find out who applied for those cards. I dont think an old lady would be signing up for 3 cards like that without knowing. Call the police. By law then, the credit reporting agencies must remove those pending an investigation, and hopefully they can find the person responsible and criminal charges can be filed.

[UncleB]

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@K-in-Bostonwrote:

They would have already impacted her credit; no need to activate.  If she didn't apply for them, it's likely that she has been a victim of identity theft.

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I agree... this doesn't sound good. 

Moving this thread to 'General Credit' to get additional exposure/assistance for ID theft issue...

[Anonymous]

Yeah sounds like identity theft.

First thing would possibly seeing them for proof that they are not "fake"

(I received the fake one for discover loans recently, about 3 weeks ago-my kids love them to play with!)

Calling the police for record keeping and starting that.

Possible if they are real, someone was trying to intercept them, but didnt.

[RobertEG]

If she wants the cards removed from her credit report/scoring, then she can have them blocked without any involvement of the creditors if she is willing to make a sworn statement in a police report that she did not authorize the cards.

The police report is the price for blocking the accounts, regardless of whether the police ever do any investigation.

If credit report removal is a key goal, then I would file the police report regardless of whether she is concerned with investigation, and send it to the CRA, requesting block under the provisions of FCRA 605B.

[phxphun]

All the helpful responses to my initial post, prompted me to dig into mom's spending habits a little deeper....   as it turns out, I found she had made one purchase at each of retailers for which she had received unactivated cards.   

When I asked if she recalled getting any 'special deals', she 'thought she may have clicked something for a percent-off discount' during the checkout, but she's 'just certain' she didn't apply for a credit card.   AH HA!   

She's promised not to make purchases without me being there for the Checkout and she won't be activating the cards she's stuck with, but it looks like she'll just have to live with her mistake this time. 

Thank you to everyone for the good advice that helped me get to the bottom of this.